ANALYSIS: Court of Arbitration’s verdict on Caster Semenya creates more questions than it answers By Antoinette Muller
In those few simple words, Olympic champion Caster Semenya maintained the grace that has underscored both her athleticism and the vile treatment she has been subjected to ever since she first became a world champion at the tender age of 18.
In a media statement issued on Wednesday, a three-judge panel said that while they have several concerns and note that the regulations are “discriminatory…such discrimination is a necessary, reasonable and proportionate means of achieving the IAAF’s aim of preserving the integrity of female athletics in the Restricted Events”.
Most simplistically, that suggestion is not just an insult to Semenya and the hard work she has put in to achieve what she has, but it is also deeply sexist and contradictory. For what theBut having fast-twitch muscle fibres is, however, not a so-called “protected” category in elite level sport. Much of the arguments in favour of the IAAF have centred around just that “protection” of a “category”.
The court’s framework was restricted, and it only had to decide whether the DSD Regulations were invalid or not. In legalese, that could never be the case since there is an advantage to having naturally higher levels of testosterone. It was not up to the court to determine what exactly constitutes fairness.
The court added that it suggests the IAAF “defer the application of the DSD Regulations to these events until more evidence is available”. Of deeper concern is the human rights element. Indeed, this case has been so unprecedented that in March 2019, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution in branding the IAAF rules “unnecessary, humiliating and harmful”.
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